We've got to hand it to Russell Crowe, this "how I met Ryan Gosling" story is a classic.

Appearing on Ellen, the 52-year-old Oscar winner revealed that he invited the heartthrob over to discuss a possible project – but it didn't go to plan when he told his estranged wife Danielle Spencer about dinner with The Gos.

It was meant to be "a quiet little intimate dinner" for four: Russ and Danielle, Ryan and his girlfriend Eva Mendes. But on the day of their plans, Danielle did what most of us would do...

"She invited 12 of her girlfriends," Russell says in the clip above. "Plus her mother!"

To avoid the inevitable awkward situation of women swarming all over Ryan (and ignoring Russell), Rusty "re-balanced it and started inviting blokes". You know, just RZA from Wu-Tang Clan, actor Eli Roth and a few other low-key types.

"So Ryan walks into the room expecting this intimate dinner party and there's 30 people," Russell added. "And I didn't explain to him why until a couple of years later when we actually started working together. I just said, 'Look mate, you gotta go along with the wife'."

His tactic worked, though – Russell and Ryan eventually teamed up on crime caper The Nice Guys (in cinemas May 26).

Russell separated from singer-songwriter Danielle, 46, back in 2012. The pair has two sons, Charles, 12, and Tennyson, nine.

News broke this week that Ryan, 35, and Eva, 42, had welcomed their second daughter, Amada Lee, on April 29. The couple also has a one-and-a-half-year-old, Esmeralda Amada.

Zoe Saldana welcomes third baby with a sweet photo - and a very peaceful name